Megan Galicia, Esq.

“My dream of practicing immigration law took root during a semester I spent volunteering with migrant farmworkers in rural Missouri. I was just back from a Spanish immersion program in Xalapa, Mexico, and eager to practice my new language skills. Suddenly, the ability to speak Spanish opened a new world to me, but one that I didn’t have to travel to experience. This community of farmworkers, many of whom were immigrants, opened their lives and homes to me. Speaking their language allowed me to witness and share their struggles, joys, heartaches, and triumphs. Even today, nearly 25 years later, I treasure what they shared with me and who they helped me become.

Comic Trevor Noah, who grew up in South Africa speaking multiple languages, said, “when you make an effort to speak someone else’s language . . . you are saying to them, ‘I understand that you have a culture and identity that exists beyond me. I see you as a human being.’” Understanding my clients’ stories and discussing their goals and concerns in their language is fundamental to my role as an attorney. I hope that clients leave my office carrying less of a burden than when they came in. Especially in the problematic immigration climate of recent years, we don’t always have good news. Still, we do have this: the promise to treat each person with dignity, to give honest and reliable advice, and to work creatively to find the best way forward in each and every case.”

Megan (pronounced “Meegan”) joined Martinez Immigration Law in 2017, focusing her practice on family and humanitarian petitions and removal (deportation) defense. Megan is a former teacher who lived and taught in Texas and Mexico before returning to her hometown of Kansas City to fulfill her dream of becoming an immigration lawyer. Megan graduated with honors from the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law in 2016 and is a former editor of the UMKC Law Review.

While in law school, she served as a judicial intern at the Kansas City Immigration Court. Megan is fluent in Spanish and is a frequent volunteer with the pro bono legal project at the South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley, Texas. Megan helped launch a Kansas City organization that trains lawyers to provide free legal representation to detained immigrants in immigration court bond proceedings. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyer’s Association. (AILA).

Areas Of Practice

Admitted To Practice

• Missouri, 2016

Education

• J.D., University of Missouri–Kansas City, Magna Cum Laude, 2016
• B.S., Mathematics/Philosophy/Spanish, Rockhurst University, 2000

Awards & Distinctions

• 2021, 2023 & 2024 Super Lawyers® Missouri & Kansas Rising Star
• 2019 Recipient of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) Presidential Commendation
• AILA Missouri-Kansas Chapter Executive Committee
• 2023-2024: Chair-Elect
• 2022-2023: Secretary
• AILA Asylum and Refugee, Committee Member, 2024
• AILA Client Resources Committee, Co-Chair, 2023-2024; Member 2022-2023